Nelson Cruz

The Texas Rangers have looked unstoppable while sweeping the Boston Red Sox under the mat in opening weekend. People were still skeptical and said the bottom half of the Rangers rotation consisting of Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando would falter. The duo stunned everyone and had arguably better outings than C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis.

One week down, plenty of panic buttons pushed.

It's been an upside down week for Major League Baseball. The Red Sox look like a slumbering bear just awoken from hibernation. The Twins actually won in the Bronx. And the Reds are quietly keeping busy—not that any of us have noticed...or have we?

Monday night at the Ballpark in Arlington, the Rangers handed the Mariners a 6-4 loss to remain undefeated in this young 2011 MLB season.

A decent outing for Derek Holland, as he pitched six innings en route to his first win of the season. He allowed three runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk.

Baseball is one of the most unpredictable sports in the world.   

Before the season starts, predictions are made of who will do this and who will do that.  But, the truth is, that there are so many different things that can and will happen.  Every season, the unexpected happens.

Whether it be in the form of a young player having a monster year.  A mediocre player who suddenly becomes a star.  A veteran having one last kick at the can, or a perennial all-star having an off year.

Texas Ranger outfielder Nelson Cruz has not stopped his torrid hitting, and with not much hoopla, he set a new postseason record in Game 3 Saturday night against the San Francisco Giants.

Cruz's double in the second inning was his 12th extra-base hit of this postseason.

The Dominican Republic-born outfielder broke the mark of 11 extra-base hits, accomplished seven times, most recently the last one was by the New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez in 2009.

Using our MLB simulation engine we "played" the Texas Rangers versus San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series Best-of-Seven series 1001 times.

In the table below you will find each teams' chances of advancing to the World Series and how often they win in 4, 5, 6 or 7 games. As you can see, the most likely scenario is the Rangers beating the Giants in six games 19-percent of the time.

Tim Lincecum: the Most Important Player in The World Series

For the Giants, that is certainly true. But of all the 50 players that will be participating in the 2010 World Series—which begins Wednesday at 7:57 p.m. in the San Francisco's AT&T Park—"The Freak" is still the most important.

Here are 10 of the reasons why:

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This is a position that the Texas Rangers are all too familiar with. It's a position they've been in through their first two postseason series, and they'll play the role one more time.

What is that role, you ask? It's being the underdog.

When the Rangers made it to the postseason, no one expected them to get past the Tampa Bay Rays let alone be the American League Champions. They weren't supposed to beat the Rays, and they sure weren't given a snowball's chance in hell against the defending champion New York Yankees.

Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge comes in to pitch the top of the ninth. The veteran righty K's Nate Schierholtz to lead things off, then allows a bunt single to Andres Torres and another single to left to Freddy Sanchez.

Lidge then gives a free pass to Buster Posey, forcing Giants closer Brian Wilson to come to the plate.

It looked like the Giants were considering pinch-hitting Pablo Sandoval, but it seems to be just a ruse.

And you'll never guess who just strolled into Game 6 for the visiting San Francisco Giants: two-time Cy Young Award-winning starter Tim Lincecum, who started and went seven strong innings in a Game 5 loss on Thursday.

Lincecum strikes out Jayson Werth to begin the inning, but then allows consecutive singles to right to Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez.

Manager Bruce Bochy comes to get Lincecum, opting instead for the more late-game-seasoned Brian Wilson. Not sure what the thinking was initially in bringing in Lincecum.